United and Chelsea offer new promise

Manchester United’s flair and Chelsea’s power promise a breath of fresh air after a season of scandal and corruption

London has its Olympics logo and perhaps English football should have one of its own, in the shape of the Hampton Court maze. Hope springs eternal with each new season, but this time the sense of expectation is mitigated by the game's feeble inability to penetrate the labyrinth the money men have created to camouflage their depredations.

The summer has been dominated by the Carlos Tevez saga and its implications for West Ham and Sheffield United; the Stevens Report into corruption in the transfer market; and Ken Bates's machinations at Leeds United. This time it is not the usual silly-season stuff. It is a trite oversimplification to suggest, as some do, that Joe Public doesn't give a toss about such things, as long as his team wins. For all bar the neanderthals, there is an increasing perception that for its principals, professional football is more of a get-rich-quick business than